Property Insurance for the Common Area and Building

I did a little googling on the subject- although electric appliances don't produce carbon monoxide, its not a bad idea to have them because CO2 could seep into an attached garage or if a backup generator runs too close to the living area. That may not apply to your building, but having them could knock dome money off your homeowners insurance, so why not?

As for the fire extinguisher, the traditional ones usually have a life expectancy of 10-12 years, while the disposable ones should be replaced every 10 years. You can also get a break in homeowners insurance- I've read that single family homes should have one on every floor. You also need to ensure the extinguisher can put out electric fires. If you have a rechargeable extinguisher, recharge it every 6 years.

So, replacing it every year might be a bit much, but in light of the Surfside disaster, high rise condos everywhere are having issues getting insurance. You may have an extinguisher that's up to date, but can you trust your neighbor, especially if he or she only uses the place for vacation?

You could talk to your local fire marshal to get his or her observations and maybe they have information you can use to get the company to ease of on annual replacement, but you've also seen how hard it was for you to get insurance, so you may have to bite the bullet and do as they ask.

Maybe there's a place where you can get extinguishers for everyone at a reduced price and make that part of reserves,so everyone pays and establish a feplacement fee when tbe unit is sold or transferred so you know the extinguisher is up to date. The carbon monoxide detectors would remain homeowners responsibility and you can remind everyone if their misuse or abuse results in a fire, they will be responsible fir all damages.

That should ensure some cooperation- or you can keep looking for insurance and accept that the price will be higher and that will be reflected in assessments

I second others' comments, especially about the carbon monoxide detectors. You can get dual fire/carbon monoxide detectors that last for a number of years. Devices like this can result in lower premiums, and every bit helps. Ditto the fire extinguishers.

The inspector was helping you reduce your costs and your liability, both of which are good things. But you should shop around for insurance, even if you're totally comfortable with what you're hearing from one person.

Spiking insurance premiums are a thing for community associations now. In a recent discussion on this website, a poster speculated on whether we're moving toward high-deductible insurance policies in this area as well - which boils down to doing without insurance for routine losses and only being covered for the catastrophic stuff. Things like this could push shaky communities over the edge financially.

Not individual "homes" this is an old building in an Historic District. Each condo has at least two doors, one to the outside balcony and one to the inside balcony. The insurance in question is not "homeowners" insurance but property insurance for the building.

No garages and no generators.

I'm not required to have a fire extinguisher in my private home which is also in a community with and HOA, and having a fire extinguisher is not required. Plus, you, must remember that the building is completely covered with a sprinkler system. Each unit has sprinklers and the baloneys have sprinklers. The sprinkler system is universal, the same system supplies water to all units and if the pressure shows a sprinkler is activates the fire department (right across the street) is automatically notified.

Each owner is responsible for his own "home owners insurance."

Personally I do have a fires extinguisher in the kitchen but how does the Board require everyone to have a fire extinguisher in their own unit? It isn't in the bylaws, it isn't in the declarations, and we on the Board doubt our authority to dictate what goes on inside someone's personal property unless it is a nuisance to others in the complex.

I'm on the Board and we meet in my unit. Even so, the "Board" doesn't have a legal right to enter my private residence. A law enforcement agency can with a warrant, but how do I know on my neighbor's door and say "I'm here to check your fire extinguisher."

A State Fire Marshal could, but outside of that where is the legal authority to enter a premises without permission?

Of course you all should not be going into an owner's units without the owner's permission (emergencies excepted). The board will have to set up a schedule and inform owners that the maintenance staff will be making the rounds during such-and-such week; please leave your fire extinguisher on the counter; and thank you for your cooperation.

This is how one of my former condos handled situations like this. Owners at this condo were used to advance notices for entry by maintenance staff at certain times of the year to inspect xyz.

It is the price of modern litigation, modern insurance, and modern living.

If you cannot find another way to insure the condo association, then I do not see any other options.

23 units and no maintenance man.

You may be right we have to do it to get insurance, but when we have one owner who hasn't paid dues or accepted any mail from the HOA for the last 10 years, who we have sued twice for non-payment of dues, I seriously doubt he is going to agree to voluntarily do anything.

The only one who has been able to enter his unit has been a representative from the State Fire Marshal's office.

A few observations from the Louisiana Condo Act (if applicable):

-- The condo is required to have insurance "to the extent reasonably available." See https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?p=y&d=106574

-- The association has the legal right to "Exercise any other powers necessary and proper for the governance and operation of the association." See https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=106564

-- Could the association buy 23 fire extinguishers each year, leave them at the units' front doors, and fulfill the requirement? This Condo Act section might be relevant (and in the board's favor when it comes to meeting the fire extinguisher requirement): https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=106588

The HOA does not have keys to any units, even giving notice that maintenance would be entering wouldn't matter, the maintenance person that we don't have anyway would have to break in the door.

We have no requirement for individuals to have their own insurance for their units.

We have two attorneys on the Board, both better than the outside attorney we have used in the past.

Our governing documents give no authority to enter anyone's private residence.

The owner owns as an LLC. We serve legal notices to his registered agent for the LLC. (owner won't talk to this individual either)

Yes, the HOA is covered by the Louisiana Condo statutes.

Money screams louder than anything, so if you're not getting anything anyway, you may as well go for foreclosure. In HOA land, foreclosures are less about money and more about getting the deadbeat out so the place can be purchased by someone who will pay.

"Woke" has nothing to do with it. You don't say what this "minority" this owner is, but I know people tend to come down especially hard on people of color - especially in Louisiana, so miss me with this "I doubt any court is going to remove one's only source of income from a minority." We were talking about master insurance for your building anyway, so stay on topic. Apparently this person knows how to work the system a helluva lot better than your attorney. Stop whining and get another one if you need to.

interesting why did you have to sue twice??? why didn't you foreclose the first time?

Because he signed an admission before trial admitting he owed the money, and then the mortgage holder paid the balance due less Court Costs.

You are correct. Minority or not minority has nothing to do with it, unless you are at heart are a racist.

All our HOA wants is compliance.

We just got our insurance renewal for the master association. Our commerical property premium went up 92.6% over last year. The other coverages went up, but not that dramatically. Luckily, we have enough money in our operating account to pay the premium. We had budgeted an increase of 40%, so it's an extra expense but our treasurer keeps about two months of operating costs as a cushion in the account. Our insurance broker says he expects the market to level out because of some new legislation, but who knows.

We are just happy to have insurance and not have been thrown into the citizen's pool. This is a new property carrier since our broker shopped around and found us the best price. The old carrier is still stonewalling our hurricane damage claim for $500k and we had to hire an insurance attorney.

To put it in perspective, we have four buildings (two clubhouses, two very small guard houses) appraised at $2.6 million, plus amenities, landscaping and lake fountains and roads. Our commerical property cost is $62,000 for the year with a $5,000 deductible for the buildings. Total insurance costs are $89,000.

Interesting discussion on the local NextDoor regarding insurance. Many people who own their homes with no mortgage are simply giving up on insurance and "self insuring", which means that they will most likely not be able to rebuild if there's another major hurricane. It used to be only the really wealthy self insured. Part of the problem is that if you are in the citizen's insurance pool they are requiring homeowners to also have flood insurance, which can add over a $1000 a year. People are just giving up.